Trial By Fire
by Clayton Overstreet
Summary: Getting over your guilt can be hard. Fortunately there are friends who can help.


I do not own these characters or profit from them. I have however recently published a book called "Slasher School Days" that you may find enjoyable… if it is out on Amazon when you read this.

Spoiler Alert!

This story takes place between the black-and white end of Manga Volume 10 and the color part at the very end. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then you will if you keep reading. You might want to finish reading the series first. The anime itself stops around Manga volume 4.

Citrus: Trial By Fire

By, Clayton Overstreet

Yuzu and Mei were walking together in the park holding hands. Mei was blushing red and Yuzu was walking a little stiffly her lips pressed together as she fought her instinct to jump up and down like a little kid. Not only had she gotten Mei back, but they were on a date holding hands in public. Squee!

Mei meanwhile was happy but also embarrassed. When Yuzu had shown up with Matsuri to take her back from her arranged betrothed Udagawa, Mei had been shocked and all, but it had not been that big of a deal. Matsuri already knew about the two of them and had even made several plays for Yuzu herself trying to usurp Mei's place as her little sister and girlfriend. She was also an employee and sort of friend of Udagawa who had introduced all of them to his café before Mei had found out he was to be her new fiancé. Mei had even gotten to like the little brat a little especially since she seemed to be in some sort of tsundere relationship with Yuzu's best friend Taniguchi (which she denied despite almost always ending up on dates with the younger girl and the little stalker girl they often hung around with), eliminating them both as romantic rivals.

Mei had assumed the most embarrassing part of that night was when she and Udagawa had told his family and her grandfather that the arranged marriage was off. And why. It had only been fair that she had done that. Yuzu had told Usagawa after all and Mei had been responsible for a lot of it. It had not been that big a deal though because he had once walked in on Mei pushing Yuzu onto her bed and tearing her shirt open, leading to grandfather blaming Yuzu and accusing her of being a deviant. Despite Mei having been the one on top of her at the time.

Then the car had arrived, packed full of her and Yuzu's friends. Mei had found out that Yuzu had told everyone they knew about their relationship. Mei's best friend Himeko, Kayo, Nene, Taniguchi's sister Mitsuko, their parents… and then upon learning that Mei had been planning on speeding the wedding up had borrowed a car and then two motorcycles to rush out to the mansion and take her back.

It was flattering, but at the same time so amazingly awkward, even if most of them had suspected something. Not least of all because everyone had been super supportive, just like Yuzu had said they would be while Mei was denying it. Even her grandfather after a bit of a sulk. Yuzu had seen that and had loudly pointed out that Mei had done everything he could have asked and more, which he had to agree with and only served to embarrass Mei more while Yuzu had seemed like a total knight in shining armor.

"Mei what's wrong?" Yuzu asked.

Mei realized she was frowning. "Nothing…" Yuzu glared obviously not buying it. "I just feel a little bad about everything you had to go through. I thought at first it was because we were in public like this…"

"Mei…"

"No, I know. Everyone knows about us now. It isn't that. I just think maybe I don't deserve you. I've been a very troublesome little sister."

Yuzu smiled and then sniffed. "Well yes, you have."

Mei flinched. "I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you. Actually I'd be really proud. It's just that I feel like you should be ashamed to be seen with me."

Yuzu stared at her in shock. "Seriously?"

"You've done everything I was too scared of. Told our friends and family about us. Fought for me when all I did was run away. I feel like a complete screw up." Suddenly mei was being held tight against Yuzu. She was not sure if she should wriggle free or just accept it, so she just sank into the hug, trying not to cry. "I'm sorry."

"Mei the last thing I want is for you to feel bad. I just don't know what to do." She paused and then stepped back. "But I know who might!" She let Mei go and stepped away, pulling out her cell phone. "Wait here a minute." She moved away leaving Mei confused and a little sad the hug was over. Yuzu spoke on the phone a little while and then made another call. When she came back she looked conflicted. "Okay I called Shirapon and she had me call Matsuri who did come up with a plan, but I don't like it and I don't think you are either."

Mei felt a shudder go down her spine. The girl had some twisted ideas of fun. "Your friend Tanaguchi is a masochist, dating her."

"She says she isn't."

"Dating her or a masochist?" Yuzu blushed. It was a little too easy to imagine Mizusawa in a slinky leather outfit whipping Harumi on her hands and knees while Harumi kept calling her an annoying brat. Mei seemed to read her mind smiling a little. "What were you just thinking?"

"Nothing," she said a little too quickly. Her face turned redder. "It's just… Matsuri has a way of…" She didn't finish the thought. Matsuri had cornered her after school with Harumi the other day and made pointed comments about how long her fingernails were and how that would get in the way if she and Mei got really intimate and it turned out Mei liked it rough. Yuzu had felt like her head would explode.

It did not help that the younger girl had an uncanny knack for somehow knowing the dirtiest most embarrassing thoughts that flitted through people's minds.

"I understand," Mei said and she did. On learning that Mei had been the one to praise Yuzu's blond hair coloring she had asked Mei if she enjoyed the thought of Yuzu dragging her long blond hair over her nude body. Mei had been embarrassed but had countered with "I don't have to imagine, do I?" That had temporarily shut the girl up but while she hid it better than Yuzu she had also felt like her insides were going to contract into a black hole. "So what is her plan?"

"She said that you need to be the one to tell some people about us. Someone who doesn't really know." She paused. "Um, she suggested calling you mom."

"No."

"Yeah, that's what I said. So she made another suggestion. You have to do something for me that I'm afraid of doing. I mean I can do it. As long as I have you I can do anything. It's just…"

"I'll do it," Mei said. She took Yuzu's hands and squeezed them. "I know you can do anything, but if it'll make it easier on you I can do it."

000

An hour later Mei was sitting in Udagawa's café when two other people came in. She was alone and poking at a tall ice-cream with a cherry on top when two girls walked in. One with black hair and the other brown. They had to be Yuzu's friends from the way they were dressed. All bright with makeup and earrings and things.

One thing Yuzu had actually made their grandfather admit was that wearing little touches with the school uniform was actually working well at the school. At first it seemed like a bad idea and people started to slip, but when Yuzu had gotten in the top hundred and then the top fifty on her tests, it proved that it was all a matter of buckling down and doing the work. Yuzu had also pointed out that without social skills and understanding what was popular, an education only got you so far int eh real world.

Papa had backed her up on that. Sho and his father did not get along and having him supporting Yuzu's carefree lifestyle had not helped bring his father around on the argument, but facts were facts. Yuzu's popularity at school proved it. Grandfather's argument was that her way of doing things could influence the other children and had to certain extents. Sho pointed out that it just proved the point and while Yuzu had not taken over as president of the student council it had been a close run thing and practically could have started a school-wide civil war.

It was hard to argue about how important popularity was in a situation like that. Depressing as that was.

They spotted Mei. Yuzu had sent them a picture. They came over to her table. The black haired one said, "Mei Aihara?"

She nodded and said, "Yes. You must be Kana and Manami. Please, sit down. Feel free to order something."

They nodded and sat down next to her. Mei scooted to the end while Manami took a seat in the middle with Kana at the end. Mei motioned to Udagawa and he came over smiling and took their orders. A moment later they were sharing a banana split.

"We were sort of surprised when Yuzu called us and said you wanted to meet," Manami said.

Kana nodded. "The last time we saw her she seemed sort of upset." She looked around. "Is that why she isn't here? She doesn't want to see us anymore?"

"No, not at all." Mei took a deep breath. "Yuzu really values your friendship, but she's a afraid that she's the one who messed it up. She would be here to tell you this herself even, but I wanted to do this for her. Incase she was right. Yuzu always looks on the bright side and when things go bad she really takes it hard. Even if she bounces right back."

Kana smiled. "Yeah, that's Yuzu."

"Totally," Manami said. "So you volunteered to act as a buffer?"

"I insisted. She wanted to talk to you herself, but she's done so much for me since we've met. I need to do something for her. You two are important friends of hers and if things go bad I think it'll hurt less if she hears it from me rather than if you hated her."

"We'd never do that," Kana said. "Yuzu's been our friend since middle school. I know we lost touch when she moved but…"

"She doesn't need to send her stepsister. We'd never just dump her."

Mei held up a hand. "Please. Yuzu wanted me to tell you first she's sorry, but she did lie to you about some things." The two waited quietly. Their split melting. "For one Yuzu never actually dated anyone. None of the boyfriends she told you about. She just made them up to fit in. The first person she ever even kissed… was me."

Kana said, "Aren't you her little sister?"

"Stepsister, yes. And Yuzu and I have been a lot more than that for a while." Mei felt her stomach burning. If Yuzu was here she would just blurt out everything. Taking a deep breath Mei did her best. "I actually kissed her the first night we met. I was not a fan of hers and we'd had some clashes in school earlier that day. I was being mean, not romantic."

"Why?" Kana asked.

Mei looked down. "I was really messed up. There's no real valid reason. I could blame the pressures of school or that we just clashed I could blame that I was engaged to a guy who treated me like property and only wanted me for my money. Family stuff. I saw Yuzu looking at me and… I guess I got the feeling she thought I was cute and she was trying not to stare so I just…" She shook her head. "Maybe I also just wanted to do it. After being treated that was by my betrothed."

Manami whistled. "Wow." She paused. "So I guess Yuzu likes girls then?"

Mei blushed. "She told me that she just never liked boys that much. But it seemed like all anyone wanted to talk about. Maybe she had a few weird feelings, but she ignored them. Until I pressed the issue."

The two shared a look and Kana said, "You shouldn't blame yourself."

"We were lying too." Manami reached over and out a hand on Kana's shoulder. They looked at each other and nodded. "Kana and I have been dating each other since elementary school."

"I kissed her on the swings when we were six and I guess we never stopped."

Mei stared. "But Yuzu said…"

"Oh we've had boyfriends. Sort of."

"Gone on dates anyway. Just… nothing really serious."

Kana said, "Please tell Yuzu we're sorry. We honestly had no idea she was making up anything."

"The last time we saw her we said some things…" She saw Mei's look. "Which I guess she told you about."

"Yes."

Kana covered her eyes. "Oh. We… we've just gotten so used to hiding. When we saw those two girls being all lovey dovey right out in the open and Yuzu saw us looking…"

"You do not need to explain," Mei said. "Yuzu andI have had a few problems too. Would you like me to call her?"

"Yes!" They both said.

Ten minutes later Yuzu had joined them and to Mei's surprise the three ended up hugging and crying. Udagawa just watched from the counter, cleaning glasses and smiling. Finally they sat down with Yuzu sidled up next to Mei smiling happily at her friends.

Kana leaned forward and said, "Tell us everything."

Minami said, "I thought Mei was your sister. Now she's your girlfriend?"

Yuzu preened a little and said, "Fiancé actually." She grabbed Mei's hand and showed off their matching rings, making Mei's face go red.

"Seriously?" Kana gasped.

Yuzu nodded, lacing her fingers with Mei's. "Seriously. You have no idea what I've had to go through for this girl. I'm never letting her get away."

"Yuzu…"

Minamai said, "Like what?"

Yuzu said, "Well for a start I had to steal her away from not one but two arranged marriages." They gasped and Mei sank down in her seat, wishing she were on the outside of the group and could run. Yuzu flinched and looked over her shoulder. "Sorry Boss."

He shrugged and just smiled back. Kana said, "Him?"

"He's very nice and from a very good family," Mei said defensively.

"I also had to totally block some girls too," Yuzu said. "Mei is very popular."

"You don't have to tell them everything," Mei admonished her.

Yuzu said, "Yes I do. I got the coolest, smartest, hottest girl in the world to fall in love with me. I have to tell everyone _everything_."

Mei blushed and could not keep the grin off her face as she brushed back some hair over her ear. The other two at the table both said, "Awwww! You're adorable."

Yuzu looked at them and said, "So you two were a couple the whole time? I must be a terrible friend. I had no idea. I'm sorry."

"We've been hiding it a long time," Kana said. "I know my mom would freak out."

"The kids at school…" Minami trailed off.

"You might be surprised," Mei said. They all looked at her. "I was sure things could never work out either. But Yuzu had faith in the people around us and so far it's all gone really well. I thought it was impossible but it really was just that simple." Mei coughed a little. "It doesn't hurt that all of our friends seem to like girls too."

Yuzu thought about it. Nene seemed to have a three-way thing going on with Matsuri and Harumi if only because she was a voyeur. Shirapon and Himeko seemed to be hanging out a lot, possibly joined by their love of Mei. Yuzu suspected the idea that Sara and Nina were a couple was just her putting her Peachy Sisters manga fantasies off on the actual sisters… but you never knew. The elder Tanaguchi definitely had a thing going on with Kayo. It did kind of seem like her mom was the only woman Yuzu knew who genuinely liked guys…

"Enough of the apologies," Kana said. "We want to hear about you two. Did Mei really kill you the first day you met?"

Yuzu glanced at Mei who avoided her eyes. "Yes, she totally did. I was getting out of the tub and she just grabbed he and pushed me against the wall while we were both naked and shoved her tongue down my throat."

"I am so sorry," Mei said.

"I didn't say I didn't like it," Yuzu said casually. "I just… it was confusing since we'd spent the whole day fighting basically. I mean I don't know how you did it Mei, but you somehow did stuff like that and still played hard to get."

"Stuff like what?" Manami asked.

Yuzu frowned. Well she could not tell them about Mei's letters from her father and their first real kiss. Not just the uncertain smooches and occasional games or uncertain moves. That had been the first time they had both been certain about what they were doing and doing it for the same reason. She also was not mentioning the time Mei had been blackmailed into prostituting herself out to a stranger or their first real date where Mei insisted on following the hastily scribbled notebook word for word. That was theirs.

So she needed to take one for the team. "I kept buying this manga where these two sisters were in love. Really racy stuff and Mei found it." By going through her bags. "One day she'd be reprimanding me for reading it and the next she'd drop a little tidbit about how the art on a certain page looked or if the story was getting slow."

"I-I was just curious why you were so fascinated."

Kana grinned. "So the little sister thing really does it for you Yuzu?"

Yuzu looked away. "Mei's score on the Peachy Sisters video game is higher than mine." Mei bit her lower lip. "I once caught her playing it when she thought I wasn't looking and she totally did stuff that I never…" Mei grabbed her head and twisted, pulling her into a long deep kiss. Kana and Manami stared wide eyed as Yuzu began kissing back with visible tongue. They glanced around the café. A few people were staring, but if they were aware of it the two stepsisters didn't care.

When they finally broke up, both looking a little glazed in the eye, a smiling Mei said without looking away from Yuzu. "Sorry about that. Sometimes it's the only way to get her to shut up." She reached up and ran her fingers through Yuzu's hair. "For some reason the lesson never sticks."

Kissing Mei on the tip of her nose Yuzu said, "I guess I'm just a slow learner. You should tutor me more."

Mei snorted. "Great, now that we've almost graduated you want lessons. Where was that attitude when I was trying to help you with algebra and world history?"

Leaning in so her lisp brushed Mei's ear she said, "I think I was distracted by something." Kissing her just under her earlobe Yuzu gently slid her hand up Mei's back and twirled a finger in her hair, tugging her head just a little as she placed a kiss on her jaw, baring her teeth and nibbling slightly. Her other hand on Mei's thigh was feeling sweaty and they were both breathing heavily.

"You two look like the cover of a romance comic," Kana said a little breathless herself.

Manami said putting a finger to her mouth and biting down, "No wonder all your friends are yuri. I mean any girl who saw you two would be jealous. I'm jealous."

"Me too," Kana said putting an arm around her.

Yuzu swallowed and turned back to her friends. Absently she reached over and picked of Mei's spoon, taking a bite of her half melted ice cream. Then she took another scoop and held it out for Mei who after a moment's hesitation, took it, leaving a white drop on her lip that Yuzu wiped away with her thumb and put in her mouth.

"I don't know if that makes me a bad person, but as long as I have Mei I don't care," Yuzu said. "I love my friends, including you guys. I just wouldn't trade any of them for her."

"I tried," Mei said. "And couldn't do it. Every time I ran my big sister came and got me and brought me back to our room."

"You two share a room?" Kana said enviously.

Yuzu nodded. "Like newlyweds." Mei actually giggled. She tried to hold it back but couldn't. Yuzu smiled at her and said, "Feel better?"

She did. She really did. Snuggling up to Yuzu Mei felt better than she ever had. She could admit who she was, who she loved, and not care what anyone thought about it. Her grandfather had already essentially signed the school over to her as heir apparent, to be made official when they graduated college. Yuzu, Himeko, and Kayo made sure she did not overwork herself. She had people who cared about her and was on a path she and Yuzu had forged together.

It really was simple. Not easy. Lifting a two ton beam was simple without being easy. Unlike when she had been doing what she thought was the right thing though, taking over the school and marrying the man her grandfather picked out for her, this _felt_ right. As she saw Yuzu's friends watching them hold each other she did not even feel a little embarrassed.

"So," Yuzu said. "How do you two feel about going on a double date to the movies?"

Smiling at their friend the two nodded, taking each other's hands. Kana said, "We'd like that."

Getting up Mei paid for the ice cream. Wishing she was strong enough to carry Yuzu she settled for walking beside her as they left the café, giving the owner a smile that was both proud and slightly apologetic. He nodded at her as they passed. As Mei stepped outside into the light of day it almost felt like she had just entered a whole new world.

Author's Note

Okay so here's the thing. At the end of the manga we see Mei and Yuzu get married. Everyone's there including Kana and Manami. Only it is several years later and not one of them showed up with a boy. The love obsessed Tachibana sisters. Himeko and Shirapon. And so on. All paired up with each other. It's like in Equestria girls where the most popular girls in school showed up to a dance in a limo together with no dates. Certain conclusions are made. Particularly when the series is about girls/sisters falling in love.

Since Kana and Manami were last seen being left behind by Yuzu before the wedding scene, I thought I would explain how they made up and show that they were more alike than even they thought.


End file.
